Jacob Lawrence was born in New Jersey, New York black man in the 20th century. He was the most widely “acclaimed” black artist during this era. His most popular works were in the series: the Migration and the War. His works in the Migration showed the rest of the world what blacks experienced while migrating to the north during the 1900s. His works in the War series was about his time spent in the U. S. Military. Lawrence was born on September 7, 1917 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the age of 7, Jacob Lawrence's parents separated and Lawrence was put into foster care along with his siblings. His mother went to Harlem and when he was 13, he joined his mother in Harlem. The school he went to in Harlem, Utopia Children's Center, offered an after-school art program. There, he fell in love with art but dropped out at the age of 16. He still took classes at the Harlem Art Workshop and occasionally visited local museums. At the age of 20, Lawrence was awarded with a scholarship to the American Artists School in New York in …show more content…
He was the first black man to cross the racial barrier in the art world and was the first black man to have work exhibited in art galleries and museums. Lawrence was the most accepted of blacks by whites in the art world during the 20th century. Lawrence opened the door for other black artists to get to the mainstream stage of art. At the age of 82 on June 9, 2000, in Seattle, Washington, Jacob Lawrence died. He painted until the final weeks of his life. Throughout his entire life he painted and made multiple series of paintings. Gwendolyn Knight was the wife of Jacob Lawrence. She too was an artist, she sculpted and painted. His work changed the world forever, he was the Jackie Robinson of art. What he did for the black community will never be forgotten and will always be appreciated by the